Five soldiers injured in Pakistan suicide blast

The attack happened in the Tank district bordering South Waziristan, where thousands of Pakistani troops are deployed.

A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a Pakistani security force convoy today in the troubled northwest, killing himself and injuring five soldiers, police said.

The attack happened in the Tank district bordering South Waziristan, where tens of thousands of Pakistani troops are deployed to hunt down Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants sheltering in the rugged region.

Three vehicles were carrying the soldiers from Tank to Jandola town when the bomber chased them in a car before it exploded, he said.

Earlier, Pakistani forces killed four suspected militants in a firefight after a rocket attack on their positions overnight in South Waziristan, local security officials said.

Clashes between security forces and militants have been reported daily from the lawless region since the breakdown in July of a peace deal the authorities signed with pro-Taliban groups in September last year.

Pakistan's army said it killed 10 militants and injured a dozen others in clashes yesterday which erupted after militants tried to ambush a security forces convoy on the Jandola road.